An anti-poaching dog working in Kruger National Park has made a remarkable recovery from being mauled by a lion, just 18 months after it was skewered by a Kudu bull.

Akita was ripped apart by the lion while out chasing down Rhinoceros poachers in the Letaba section of the South African park in October and is now recovering from massive surgery which has left it with big scars.

It was the second time the female Malinois - a variety of Belgian Shepherd which looks like an Alsatian - has been seriously wounded on duty.

In March last year Akita was impaled by the horn of a Kudu antelope bull while sniffing its way through the park - a job it has done for almost every day for the past six years.

Akita only survived because its handler had the dog airlifted from the Park for emergency surgery, according to regional newspaper, the Lowvelder.

Emergency surgery saved Akita once again after the lion attack last month.

Johan de Beer, kennel master at the Kruger National Park’s canine unit, posted pictures of battered Akita on Facebook showing its injuries from the lion attack and other scars from years on patrol. Incredibly, he said the dog was "back up and running already" which was "quite hard to believe".

Eight-year old Akita is likely to be retired, said Theresa Sowry, chief executive officer for Southern African Wildlife College, which supplies dogs to South African National Parks.

"Akita “is the sweetest thing," she said. "These dogs are just amazing…and contribute to many of the anti-poaching successes in the last few years. We could not do without them.”

So far this year there has been a slight decline in numbers of Rhinoceros poached in South Africa with 508 killed compared to 691 a year ago.